Christmas Eve.
After the Christmas Eve reunion, it was supposed to be a night of partying, and there were no parties at the Westeros estates, nor invitations to parties at other people's houses.
In the evening, Sophia even called her daughter back to the next door who wanted to stay.
So there was only one family in Westeros.
After dinner, the female assistant took the initiative to take care of the three children. Simon and Janet hid in a living room on the second floor, turned off the lights, and hugged together on the sofa. The TV on one side was turned on, and the sound was very low, but through the floor-to-ceiling windows. You can see clusters of brilliant fireworks exploding in the city sky far and near from time to time, accompanied by the ringing sound.
Ordinary people need to rush to the festival to party, enjoy feasts and arrange travel. For people at the top of the pyramid, this is life as long as they want it.
So the festival is no longer special.
Clinging to the man's chest obsessively, Janet looked out the window at another cluster of fireworks that had just exploded, and suddenly said: "Little boy, do you still remember that Christmas in the first year we met?"
It had been a long time since I heard this title. Simon smiled and nodded, "Of course I remember. Someone ran to Los Angeles late at night and forgot to pay attention to the weather. He caught a cold that night and made a fuss about not going to the hospital."
Janet rubbed herself against Simon coquettishly: "I know you will definitely take care of me."
Simon hugged the woman's slender waist and rested his chin on her head: "Why do you suddenly start to recall the past? This is very dangerous. Some people say that once a person starts to recall, he almost becomes old."
"That's not the case." There was some hidden fear in Janet's tone, and she pressed closer: "I just want to say that I have been relying on you all these years. I hold you as mine. My boyfriend still insists on getting married early. If it weren’t for me, you would still be a happy bachelor now.”
"God was grateful for Abraham's piety and made a covenant with him. He gave his descendants the rich Canaan flowing with milk and honey as the Promised Land." Simon read the passage in the Old Testament softly, holding Janet's face gently. He kissed her gently on the lips, looked at her colorful eyes illuminated by various lights, and said softly: "You are my promised land, where my heart is at peace, otherwise, I may always be wandering and sinking. , I don’t know what day it is, and I don’t know how many years have passed. So, it’s not that you are relying on me, but that I, a bad guy, secretly grabs you and won’t let you go.”
Janet and Simon looked at each other, their eyes filled with more luster, and then she gently shook off the man's big hand holding her face, put it against his chest, and whispered softly: "Little boy, I said so , as long as I have you, it is enough, you are still free, you don't need to be tied down by me, and you don't need to care about what other people think."
Simon knew that Janet was referring to Sophia's pregnancy, so he just said softly: "Thank you."
The two enjoyed a moment of silence, and Janet took the initiative again: "Little boy, have you forgotten the dream we talked about on your 19th birthday?"
Simon nodded: 'No. "
During that birthday, Simon was assisting Catherine in the filming of "Night of the Blood Corpse" in Arizona. Janet drove over to visit him, took him out alone to play, and talked a lot of irrelevant words and dreams.
Destroying the world is a bit difficult.
So he decided to rule the world first.
Janet looked up again and said with a smile: "I used to think that dreams were just dreams, but I didn't expect that one day I would actually get closer and closer to my goal."
Simon also smiled and said: "I now feel that it is easier to destroy the world, but it is very troublesome to rule the world."
"As long as the two of us work together, it will happen."
Simon asked: "Then what."
Janet was not confused by this possibly philosophical question: "Then, there is always the next goal. The universe is so big and we are so small. Except for death, no one can reach an end where the goal cannot be found."
Simon stroked the woman's soft blond hair and smiled: "Then let's work hard together."
"Yeah."
After a moment of silence, Janet quickly said: "Little boy, you just recited the Old Testament as if you were reciting poetry. Can you read poetry to me?"
"OK."
Simon nodded and thought about it for a moment. Rabindranath Tagore's "Life is Like a Summer Flower" sounded in the room.
*I heard.
*I hear music, from the moonlight and the carcass
*Like a bait, capturing the ethereal and ethereal.
*Intense, pure.
*There are always memories throughout the world
*I believe
*I believe in myself. Life is as gorgeous as summer flowers, and death is as quiet and beautiful as autumn leaves.
*Neither prosperity nor chaos, posture like smoke
*…
At the door of the room that was ajar, Jennifer held little Nick who would only sleep peacefully in her arms because he was disturbed by the sound of fireworks. Listening to the poems coming from the room, she slightly curved the corners of her mouth and stood still for a moment with some reluctance, quietly Turn around.
This Christmas falls on a Sunday, and after the holiday some people have to get back to work until the New Year.
Simon also began to sort out and plan many layouts of the Westeros system in the days between Christmas and New Year. This is actually an idea that started very early. Domestic and foreign, economic and political, in the past few years , Simon seemed to be casual but actually placed many chess pieces in a targeted manner.
If a tree wants to harvest fruit, it cannot be allowed to grow. It must be nourished and pruned regularly.
In terms of economy, the entertainment and technology sectors that are the core of the Westeros system are still under Simon's personal control. Janet continues to be responsible for the financial sector that is equally important to the Westeros system. Simon will not ignore other corners and corners, but he will also Don't plan to spend too much effort.
In terms of politics, this time we just sorted out the political lobbying network of the Westeros system, and at the same time strengthened our overseas layout. There are plans to set up funds similar to those used by the US government through so-called 'third-party funds'.
In addition, the military forces and intelligence networks directly belonging to the Westeros family will also be more standardized and integrated. Especially the intelligence network, which used to be managed in an independent and free-range manner. However, if any intelligence network wants to be strong, it must Interrelated organizations must be formed to form a sufficiently tight network.
Such a team cannot remain in darkness forever.
Simon has previously tried to establish various shell detective companies or adopt department affiliation methods.
This time, Simon began to plan to further formalize the two aspects and divide them into light and dark aspects. On the surface, it will still be a detective company model, but it will no longer be an empty shell. The scale will increase significantly, and it will more actively accept external commissions. . In order to avoid attracting attention with a single business, these companies will also expand appropriately and add security and other services. Human resources will be provided and trained by the private military companies of the Westeros family.
The secret intelligence network is still affiliated. This time it is mainly affiliated to three private military companies located in North America, Australia and Europe. It adopts stricter military management and is completely responsible to Simon alone. It does not accept any external business entrustment. .
In terms of military affairs, the main purpose is to further consolidate the Westeros family's absolute control over private military companies.
Neither Simon nor Janet would be too involved in the operations of the three private military companies. In order to maintain absolute control, Simon adopted strict financial separation. The modern military is different from the cold weapon era. Every move actually costs money.
If something goes wrong, as long as the funding supply to these private military forces is cut off, some people will probably wake up and figure out who is supporting them.
Domestically, the foundation of the Westeros system in the United States is getting deeper and deeper, and development in many aspects has begun to touch the sky. The next thing to do is to keep a low profile as much as possible and quietly develop the 'root system' below the ground.
As for foreign countries, most are still in the early stages of deployment.
This requires laying a good foundation.
If it starts to go astray, it will only become more difficult to clean up in the future.
Such as Ukraine.
Simon initially focused on Africa, and gradually discovered that Ukraine was a more worthy business target. Therefore, a large amount of resources were invested in the Rivne Oblast of Ukraine in a short period of time. It was like a scapegoat that suddenly appeared, and it was inevitable to breed some moths.
I arranged for two vases to go out for fun. I originally wanted to give some people a reminder, but unfortunately it didn't have much effect. Simon decisively began to plan for a cleaning and rectification. As a very humane boss, everyone still has to celebrate the New Year, so things will start after the New Year.
Busy as it is, another box office week in the North American film market from December 23 to December 19 has quietly come to an end.
"Suicide Squad" easily topped the weekly box office in its second week of release. The box office dropped 38% the next week, taking in another US$57.69 million, bringing the total bi-weekly box office to US$149.47 million.
As a blockbuster movie with a saturated full-scale release, in the face of the impact of a large number of new films, the box office drop was still able to maintain 38%, exceeding the expectations of the media and the film studio. Some media previously predicted that the movie's drop in the next week may be 50%. %about. The box office trend is good, and the possibility of "Suicide Squad" hitting 300 million has also increased significantly.
However, there is another important reason for "Suicide Squad"'s good box office performance in the second week, which is that the actual box office performance of many new films last week was quite weak.
This can only be seen from the fact that "Toy Story 2" still ranked second in the weekly box office list in its sixth week of release.
In the past week, the box office of "Toy Story 2" dropped only 11%, and it collected another US$18.73 million, bringing the cumulative box office to US$254.69 million. It is only a matter of time before the total box office in North America hits 300 million US dollars. The box office curve of this 3D animated film was so strong that it surprised many media.
The third place on the list finally comes to a new film that opened last week, but it is the fighting game adaptation film "Street Fighter" jointly produced by Capcom and MGM and distributed by MGM.
This action film starring Hollywood action actor Jean-Claude Van Damme grossed US$14.11 million at the box office in the first seven days of its opening week. Compared with a production cost of US$30 million and a publicity investment of US$12 million, this opening result was low. In line with the expectations of the film studio, it was the one with the best box office performance among the four major commercial films last week.
14.11 million in the first week of filming. The film studio has zero chance of recovering the cost through North American distribution and can only look to overseas and peripheral channels.
"Rich Rich" starring Macaulay Culkin ranked fourth on the list, earning 12.32 million in the first seven days, showing no signs of replicating the miracle of "Home Alone".
Warner Bros. Pictures spent a production budget of US$40 million on this children's comedy, with a promotional investment of US$15 million, for a total investment of US$55 million.
Now, with US$12.32 million in the first week, even if it can go a long way, the total box office in North America will only be about US$30 million. The domestic box office performance is weak, and it is difficult to expect anything overseas. Many markets may simply sell out. The industry expects Warner Bros. Brothers may lose more than $30 million on this project in the short term.
Ranked fifth is "Santa Claus".
Disney's holiday comedy, which opened at the same time as "Suicide Squad" last week, saw a 27% box office drop this week, with a box office revenue of US$11.96 million the following week. In two weeks, "The Santa Clause" has a cumulative box office of US$28.35 million. The curve trend is at As expected. The production cost of "Santa Claus" is only US$22 million, and the local box office is expected to be about US$50 million, which makes Vivendi, who just took over Disney, quite satisfied with it, but they will never know how successful this film was.
The sixth spot on the list once again falls to Daenerys Entertainment.
"Little Women" produced by Gomen Pictures saw a very weak 3% box office drop in the second week of its large-scale release, taking in US$10.96 million, which was just US$1 million behind "The Santa Claus". This film adaptation of the famous novel finally showed its potential. It has achieved the trend expected by many films at the end of the year in the past, with the cumulative box office reaching US$23.03 million.
The outstanding box office performance of "Little Women" made Orion Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount, somewhat regretful that it had not arranged for the screening of Paul Newman's "The Fool" in advance, because the two films largely followed the original trend. The style of the two "Steel Magnolias" is that one is adapted from a classic novel and the other is transformed from a male perspective.
"Little Women" can be a success. If "Little Women" is released in advance and opens on a large scale during the Christmas period, it is likely to be an equally popular hit.
The screening schedule for "The Fool" is the usual two weeks. Even if it regrets it, Orion will not be able to arrange a screen for this movie in the short term. When the large-scale opening of the film begins on January 6, the North American film market has entered the off-season after the holidays. .
Paramount also regrets the box office performance of "IQ".
In its first week of release, the romance movie starring Meg Ryan only grossed US$6.65 million in seven days, ranking eighth on the weekly box office list. The seventh place is Disney's live-action version of "The Jungle Book." Also a new film, "The Jungle Book" only had a box office of $8.27 million in its first week.
It can be said that none of the four commercial films that were released on a large scale during the Christmas week on December 23 had a box office performance that met the expectations of the film studios. Regardless of subsequent long-term peripheral issuance, it will end in losses in the short term.
In comparison, the three new films screened last week, "Neil's Heart", "The Burning Years" and "The Fool", have received better reviews than the last one. Unfortunately, these films can only wait until the awards season after the festival to start. Harvest the box office.
On December 30, a box office week spanning 1994 and 1995 began.
The two new films opening this week are both from independent studios. They are "The Madness of King George" screened by Baldwin Pictures and the B-level film "Killer" released by another independent film company called Kingstone Entertainment. ”, the two new films barely made any splash in the media. They were obviously trying to pick up leaks at the end of the year, but they were reduced to cannon fodder.
Because it spans New Year's Day, this week is also the last chance for last week's new films. If the box office trend in the box office week from December 30 to January 5 is good, or even reverses, relying on local and overseas distribution, These films are still expected to escape the loss-making situation.
However, neither the film crew nor the media are too optimistic about this.
You know, although "Suicide Squad" was a box office monster in the past week, the box office of this DC superhero blockbuster the next week has fallen to less than 60 million US dollars. Logically speaking, it will not affect the performance of other movies. "Little Women" The weak decline of 3% in the second week after the large-scale opening is the most direct evidence.
The box office performance of the four commercial films is still disappointing, which can only be said to be their own problem.